Ellen Gray

Rob Owen

The show’s contestant characters are the expected mix of types found in a reality show, although Unreal tries to ground them in specificity that defies TV stereotypes, which works better with some of the women than with others.

Brian Lowry

Amy Amatangelo

It’s a thought-provoking soap opera with love triangles and mother issues. Although some of the plot points are too clichéd (Quinn’s affair with her married boss, played by Craig Bierko, is a predictable one), the show moves along at an engaging, entertaining pace.

Ken Tucker

The sad thing--but also the thing that makes this show so compelling--is that the contestants care so much about winning this hideous, spirit-killing show. It’s that paradox that gives UnREAL its true soul.

Margaret Lyons

Lifetime has one of the most aggressively interesting dramas in recent memory. There's borderline sociopathy, true human frailty, workplace strife, family drama, romance, social commentary, and a shred of satire.

Hank Stuever

Emily Nussbaum

The show could easily devolve into a mere cruel soap, its own guilty pleasure. But it makes one crucial move: it cultivates sympathy for the bachelorettes.... UnREAL allows the women to be individuals, vulnerable and distinct.

Todd VanDerWerff

Alan Sepinwall

UnReal is simultaneously a very dark satire of reality TV and a soap opera that breathes new life into old tropes by placing them in this very familiar, modern setting. The story of the making of a show like this is ultimately far more exciting than the shows themselves seem to be.